Chapter Two: Blind Love
by Bynius
Summary: Follows the adventures of 19-yr-old Toph.


**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

_Katara, voice-over:_

_Water._

_Earth._

_Fire._

_Air._

_It has been six years since the end of the Great War. Since Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai._

_The citizens are working hard to reconstruct their battered countries, and there has been great success so far. Fire Lord Zuko had reclaimed his nation's honor; Toph is now a great earthbending trainer; Sokka is chief of the Southern Water Tribe, with Suki at his side; Aang had started up a group called The United People's Society._

_Great progress had been made in reuniting the Four Nations. Much is being done to maintain order and peace. But my friends and I know that where there is light, there is shadow._

_No matter how far we've come, there is always more work to be done._

---

**Chapter Two: Blind Love**

Toph slammed her feet on the ground, sending a wave of earth hurtling towards her opponents. Through the ground, she sensed her opponents had darted the rock wave and were coming her way. She buried her fists into the nearest wall, and pulled out a shield of stone. Then, when she felt the others quickly change their course, Toph pressed her hands to the stone shield, shooting tiny but potentially dangerous rock pellets at the others.

A satisfied grin crept onto her face when she heard them shriek for mercy. Then Toph bent her shield of stone back into its wall, and relaxed her stance.

"You fought well," she praised her students. "Of course, you avoided everything I sent your way and didn't once attack me…but all-in-all you did pretty well."

Her pupils gave an unenthusiastic response. As they were walking off, Toph yelled after them, "Tomorrow we're gonna talk about how to _really_ kick butt!"

Toph returned to the back of the cave to work on reshaping it. She could feel that the structure was in major disarray.

Then she felt light footsteps coming up from behind.

"So how was your class today?" Aang asked.

"Ugh." Toph turned to face him, even though she couldn't see. "They were a _mess_. They didn't throw a single punch! Every attack I made, they just darted out of its way." She paused, and thought a moment. "Kinda like what you did when you were first learning how to earthbend."

"Yeah, I was something of a goof, wasn't I?"

Toph smiled mischievously. "You still are, Twinkletoes."

The Avatar gave an awkward chuckle. "Well, maybe you ought to change your training style…you know, the way you did with me."

"Hmm." Toph had to admit, it seemed like a good idea. "I'll think about it." Changing the subject, she asked, "How've you been, Twinkletoes?"

"Wow. Toph Bei Fong _actually_ wants to know about my day," he remarked, a teasing edge to his voice.

Slightly annoyed, Toph morphed a mound of dirt into a solid rock and hurled it at Aang.

"Hey!" Aang yelped in surprise. "That almost hit me!"

Toph suppressed a contented snicker. "But it didn't hit you, did it?"

"You think you can get away with that?" came his reply, and Toph felt the ground beneath her tremble and split. Thinking quickly, she pulled out a platform of earth from under her feet and dodged the attack.

"Okay, seriously, Twinkles. Stop!"

Then the earth relaxed. Toph felt the cracks in the ground disappear.

"So what do you wanna do now?" Aang asked.

The earthbender shrugged. "Wanna grab some tea?"

--

"Wait, Katara has a boyfriend?" Toph asked, surprised. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip of tea.

"Yeah!" Aang replied. "For two years!"

"And she didn't tell us?" The earthbender couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. The group had been together for seven years; how could Katara keep such a secret from her friends?

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Ryu. He's an earthbender."

"Why would she keep him a secret for so long?" Toph wondered out loud. Then her eyes widened as she realized what Aang had said. "Earthbender?"

"Mm-hmm," Aang grunted his reply.

"I'm dying to know how his earthbending is." Random little thoughts crashed around in her mind. _Maybe I could train him._

"Never mind that!" There was sudden irritation in the Avatar's voice. "We need to learn more about this Ryu guy. He could be dangerous."

"What?" Toph couldn't believe what Aang was saying. "Don't you trust Katara?

"Sometimes even she can make poor choices. Remember Jet?"

Toph cocked an eyebrow. "Who?"

"He was…" Aang seemed to struggle with an appropriate description of him. "He was not a well man."

"He was nuts, huh?"

"Yup."

They sipped the rest of their tea in silence. Then Toph felt hefty footsteps through the ground.

"General Iroh!" she said in surprise. Even though the elderly firebender owned this tea shop, the group rarely came into contact with him anymore.

"Hello, Toph," the firebender greeted. "Aang. It's been a while."

Toph could hear a weak edge to his voice.

"It sure has, Iroh!" The Avatar replied in a high, cheery pitch, reminding Toph much of his twelve-year-old self. "How ya doing?"

"Ehh." Toph could sense the old man wasn't feeling too great. His footsteps felt rigid and unstable as he slipped into their booth beside Aang. "I'm not getting any younger, and my joints are trying hard to make me remember that."

Despite Iroh's miserable remark, Toph couldn't help but let out a soft snicker. He's always been something of a comedian.

"Sorry to hear you're feeling bad," came Aang's voice.

Toph suddenly felt something smack her ankle, and realized that the Avatar had sent a small rock wave at her feet, seemingly punishing her for giggling at Iroh's last words.

"How's Zuko been lately?" she asked, changing the subject. The group hadn't heard from neither him nor his girlfriend Mai recently.

Iroh shrugged. "He's been doing pretty well, I guess. Going to a lot of meetings. I'm proud of him; he really seems to be following through on his promise of uniting the lands. Oh..." He gave a soft chuckle. "Rumor has it that there's another child on the way."

"Wow, really?" Aang said. "Good for him!"

"Here's to Mai and the hothead!" Toph lifted her cup of tea in a salute. She heard the clink of Aang's teacup to hers.

"Hey, can I get another cup of jasmine over here?" a customer cried.

Iroh shouted his reply, and slowly and shakily rose to his feet. "I have to get back to the customers." He patted Toph's shoulder. "Good to see you kids again."

Aang replied, "You too."

Then there was silence.

Suddenly, Toph slapped the table as a thought popped into her mind. "That's it!"

She felt Aang jump in his seat, and felt his heartbeat quicken. Then, after a few seconds, he relaxed, and his pulse returned to normal.

"Scared ya?"

"Yes." Aang took a breath. "Um, what's it?"

"Katara!" The earthbender felt excited with her conclusion. "That's why she broke up with you in the first place!" She paused, and swallowed. "Aang, you just need to sit back and leave her alone. She's...What? 20, 21 years old? She's old enough to make her own decisions!"

"But what if they're the wrong ones?"

"That's the point. No one's perfect. She's gonna screw up. She already has, and she always will. That's life. But you have to leave her to her own decisions. Butt out. Let her run her own life and make her own choices. And if they happen to be poor choices—oh, well. That's just something she'll have to go through. But Aang—" Toph leaned forward and touched his arm. "—she's a strong woman, and I know that whatever happens, she'll find a way to overcome it. You have to trust her."

She sensed that Aang was thinking through all this, and could feel waves of doubt coming off of him.

"If you don't learn to trust Katara, then how will she be able to trust you?" she continued. "The more you doubt her, the more she's just gonna push away from you." She attempted to lock her unseeing eyes with his. "Believe me, I know. This is just like my problem with my parents. The only way to resolve it is to give Katara her space."

Aang's only response was a low grunt. He was running all of this through his mind, considering and reconsidering.

"Maybe you're right," he murmured.

"I _am_ right!" Toph said. Then she added, "Have I ever been wrong?"

"Well, now that I think about it…." He trailed off. "Actually, uh…" Toph could sense he was uncomfortable admitting that she really was right about most of the events the group had been forced to face. Aang let out a chuckle, and patted her hand. "Thanks, Toph. It did help."

She twisted her lips into a great smile.

_Wait, why am I smiling? So he thanked me. It's not new._

Suddenly, she felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach. It seemed to be trying to tell her something. Toph felt her hand reach out toward him and search for his hand. When hers met his, her fingers intertwined with his. There was a brief, silent moment, and suddenly Toph had never felt so relaxed and…happy.

"Uh…Toph?"

The voice struck her like a bolt of lightning. _What am I doing?!_ Startled, she snapped her hand back. _Oh, kill me now_, she thought miserably.

"Um." Toph was desperate to say something to cut the awkwardness that followed.

"Yeah…" Aang cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed. "I have to…"

Toph didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. "Yeah, me too."

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Toph swiftly slid out of the booth, and headed for the door. "See ya around."

"What the hell was I doing?" Toph shrieked to herself when she was walking down a path. She stopped in her tracks and studied the ground for vibrations. _Good, no one's around._ She returned to yelling at herself. "I actually held his hand! What was I thinking?!" Suddenly Toph remembered the feeling of comfort that sparked inside her when her fingers linked with Aang's. "For that matter, why did I feel like that?" Toph asked herself. She couldn't recognize the emotion; she'd never felt it before. She focused more on that strange moment. She realized that there were countless emotions that had been spiraling through her when she held his hand. She felt comfortable, relaxed, happy, safe. She dug deeper. Toph had felt like she never wanted that moment to end. She wished desperately that she could be back in the tea shop, holding Aang's hand. She never wanted to leave him. She yearned to be beside him, and melt into his arms. She longed to feel his embrace, and his warmth, and his presence.

Her breath caught in her throat. Toph suddenly realized what she was feeling. She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the thought. But instead the realization returned. She knew very well what was welling inside her.

"No. That can't be right," Toph told herself. "It can't be!" She tried to convince herself that she was wrong—that it really wasn't any more than a brief, awkward moment that meant nothing. Her heart remained unconvinced, and started beating faster as she reluctantly came to the conclusion.

She was in love with the Avatar.


End file.
